The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of the ornamental flowering shrub Abelia, hereinafter referred to by the varietal denomination ‘Lavender Mist’. ‘Lavender Mist’ originated from an interspecific cross made in 1998 between the cultivar ‘Edward Goucher’ (unpatented) and Abelia chinensis R. Br. ‘Edward Goucher’ is a purple-flowered cultivar that was derived from an interspecific cross between Abelia×grandiflora and A. parvifolia (schumanii) and released in 1911. Seeds from the cross were sown in 1999, and eleven seedlings were obtained. These seedlings were planted in a field plot in Griffin, Ga. in the fall of 1999 and were evaluated for three years for flowering and foliage characteristics, plant form and height, cold hardiness and drought tolerance. Plant 99-6-11 was selected among these plants, and assigned the name ‘Lavender Mist’.
‘Lavender Mist’ forms a dense compact shrub with a slight spreading habit. A 4-year old, unpruned, field grown plant measured 159 cm tall and 290 cm wide. Check cultivars ‘Compacta’ (unpatented), ‘Golden Glow’ (unpatented), ‘Francis Mason’ (unpatented), ‘Little Richard’ (unpatented), and ‘Rose Creek’ (unpatented) were similar in height, but all less in width.
The foliage color in summer is an attractive dark green. In the fall the leaves on the shoot tips turn burgundy purple, and by mid winter the foliage is dark purple. ‘Lavender Mist’ is semi-deciduous in USDA Zone 7.
‘Lavender Mist’ is a heavy bloomer, with clusters of lavender flowers beginning in mid-June and continuing into autumn. Two heavy-blooming periods generally occur in June and again in August, with scattered blooms throughout the rest of the season. The fragrant lavender flowers are borne in compound panicles, averaging 16 cm, long by 14 cm wide. The sepals are straw green at base becoming rose at the tips.
Laboratory evaluations of cold hardiness in Griffin, Ga. during the winter of 2003-04 revealed a mid-winter hardiness of −15 to −17° C., similar to the check cultivars ‘Canyon Creek’ and ‘Rose Creek’. Plants grown in Blairsville and Griffin, Ga. during the 2003-04 winter had no damage.
‘Lavender Mist’ has drought tolerance typical of abelia, and once established grows and blooms without irrigation, although leaf drop occurs under drought stress conditions.